Shaggy

Shaggy, real name Orville Burrell is a famous Jamaican reggae singer and deejay known worldwide, he was born on the 22nd of October 1968 in Kingston, Jamaica and was nicknamed after the Scooby-Doo character. He migrated to the United States of America when he was 18 years old with his family.

 

In 1993 Shaggy exploded on the music scene with his debut album PURE PLEASURE. His remix of the Ska classic Oh Carolina from that album was an instant hit in England and other countries. Shaggy Foundation was developed in 2008.

 

He hosts an annual charity event in which all proceeds are donated to the Bustamante hospital to help defray the cost of medical equipment. To date, the Shaggy Foundation has been instrumental in raising over $85 million (JMD = $1 million USD) for the hospital.

 

Shaggy received a Grammy Nomination for his tenth studio album, summer in Kingston in 2012. Shaggy appeared on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, The George Lopez Show and The Today Show with Kathie Lee and Hoda promoting the album.

 

Shaggy is dubbed as one of the biggest successful dancehall reggae singer with many hit songs. His career started on his move to America when he started to perform with a local Jamaican sound system, but in 1998 he joined the marines where he continued to pursue this career.

 

Shaggy’s musical career was temporarily halted in 1988. After a difficult year trying to find work with a steady pay check and wanting to escape the gun-to-your-head mentality of the streets of Brooklyn where the only work that could be found was illegal, Shaggy joined the United States Marines.

 

He thought it was a way out of poverty and a vacation from the harsh streets of Brooklyn, but was misled and found himself in the middle of the Gulf War. He also found himself driving an armoured HumVee tank through an Iraqi minefield.

 

He did his first song “Oh Carolina” wasn’t as big a hit in the U.S., where it stalled in the lower half of the charts, despite its inclusion on the hit soundtrack to the Sharon Stone film Sliver.

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Nonetheless, the overseas success of “Oh Carolina,” coupled with the high-profile Maxi Priest duet “One More Chance,” was enough to land Shaggy a lucrative deal with Virgin Records. Shaggy followed his breakout success with an extensive world tour, consolidating his European following, and recorded a hit duet with Maxi Priest, “That Girl,” in 1996.

 

He returned to solo action in 1997 with the Midnite Lover album. The first single, a dancehall version of Big Brother & the Holding Company’s “Piece of My Heart” featuring duet partner Marsha, was a relative flop in the U.S., though it had some international success.

 

The album contained various single-ready tracks tailored for U.S. urban radio play, but the artist also felt the need to bring back his reliability with the dancehall reggae hard core.

 

In 2005 he returned with Clothes Drop, this time on the Geffen label. Early in 2007 his “Church Heathen” single began dominating the dancehall scene thanks in part to its video starring the legendary Ninja man as a priest.

 

Shaggy has continued to be a success today; he has many charities especially in Jamaica and lots of hit songs that blast many sound systems on a daily basis.

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